“On March 24 2016 Johan Cruyff (68) died peacefully in Barcelona, surrounded by his family after a hard fought battle with cancer. It’s with great sadness that we ask you to respect the family’s privacy during their time of grief.”

Just last month Cruyff had revealed that he was confident of beating the cancer diagnosis that he had made public last October, saying in an interview:

“Right now, I have the feeling that I am 2-0 up in the first half of a match that has not finished yet. But I am sure that I will end up winning.”

Cruyff had been a heavy smoker up until having heart surgery in 1991.

Though the word “legend” may be thrown around nowadays with flagrant disregard for the gravitas that such a word deserves, few could deny that Cruyff was a legend of the game – deserving of a place at the top table alongside the likes of Pelé and Diego Maradona.

His status in the game has been reflected in the tributes that have already been pouring in for the three-time Ballon d’Or winner.

The lasting legacy Cruyff had on football cannot be overstated – from the Total Football style of the Netherlands sides of the 1970s right up to the Barcelona that we see today, Cruyff’s fingerprints are all over what perceive as modern footballing practices.

He led Ajax to three consecutive European Cup titles in the early 70s (winning eight Eredivisie titles in total over two spells in Amsterdam) and narrowly missed out on a World Cup medal with the Netherlands in 1974.

He moved to Barcelona in 1973, for a then-world record fee of roughly $2million, and while his playing days there were far from trophy-laden, he enjoyed considerably more success at the Camp Nou as a manager, winning four Spanish league titles as well as taking home the 1992 European Cup.

His later years had seen him return to both Barcelona and Ajax at various instances at board level.

He will be remembered as one of the most innovative footballing thinkers the game as ever seen, and likely will ever see.